Church offered use of MCA hall

MCA means Malaysian Chinese Association NOT Malaysian Churches Association or Malaysian Christian Association . And please no repeat of 3rd January 2010 fiasco .

KUALA LUMPUR: The MCA is offering the burnt Metro Tabernacle Church the use of its Dewan San Choon at Wisma MCA headquarters here for the congregation to hold its Sunday service at 10am.

“Whilst there is relief that no lives were lost nor were there injuries, I have directed MCA leaders to go to the sites to render assistance to the affected churches,” party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said in his blog www.ongteekeat.net yesterday.

The Transport Minister criticised the attacks on the churches as a cowardly show of brute force by an irresponsible group of individuals out to sow the seeds of hatred.

He added that all religions taught peace and tolerance.

Badly damaged: Dr Ng visiting the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati Friday.

Ong also appealed for calm among Malaysians.

On the controversy surrounding the usage of the word “Allah”, Ong said it was best for the rule of law to take its course.

“Destructive actions fuelled by the fires of hate and prejudice have no place in this country for they are inconsistent with the spirit of 1Malaysia, and run counter to the spirit of democracy and freedom preserved by our Federal Constitution,” he said.

At a separate function, party vice-president and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the arson attack on the churches would impact the tourism industry negatively.

“Malaysia is promoted to the world as a peaceful, multi-racial and multi-cultural country.

“Any action that goes against this definitely has a negative impact,” she said after a Tourism Malaysia meeting with 13 state directors yesterday.

Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Senator Heng Seai Kie said the acts of vandalism on the churches should not have happened “if everybody respected the law and the rights of every community.”

MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said the nation must take steps to restore peace and cautioned against falling into the trap of those who want to spark discord among the different faiths.

Party Wanita chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun urged Malaysians to unite to quell acts by extremists because their cowardly acts were a disservice to the nation.

MCA NGO liaison bureau chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker said the arson attacks had shown that the fabric of the country’s multi-racial and multi-religious society was very fragile.

Its political education bureau chief Gan Ping Sieu said the attackers were destroying the universal values of goodwill, peace and harmony of great religions.